Thursday, February 4, 2016

DS Update: More Retail Coming To Disney Springs

Blog reader and Island source Shawn shares with us the following names that will be opening retail stores in Disney Springs in May. We don't recall if these names were ever mentioned previously.

Clothing retailers Urban Outfitters, Free People and Francesca's Collections are all opening stores, joining other trendy clothing retailers such as Zara, Uniqlo, Ugg and Shore.

Athletic clothing retailer Under Armor is opening a store.

Jewelry retailer Alex and Ani is coming, joining already-announced Pandora and already-open ErwinPearl Jewelry.
All these names have something in common; they're not your Mom's kind of stores. These stores all offer trendy clothing or jewelry items for the young who don't mind shelling-out money for the latest looks. Stores such as the Spain-based Zara, Japan-based Uniqlo and USA-based Francesca's offer very moderate price points. They're not H&M cheap, but not much higher. They're sure to be hits!

They would like to provide enough shopping so that more guests don't leave property to shop at the malls. While they may capture some who travel to Florida Mall, those looking for "upscale" will still travel to Millenia and those looking for "outlet pricing" will still go to the two Premium Outlets.

There's always a danger that guests who planned a shopping day during their Disney visit will still go offsite for their day, and instead give up one theme park day for Disney Springs. Most likely though, Disney Springs will be more crammed than ever during the evening. I expect the Springs will do very well.